Method of making toy furniture and the like



March 13, 1934.

P. E. GIER METHOD OF MAKING TOY FURNITURE AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 8, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 V l mngg y' March 13, 1934. p E R 1,950,919

METHOD OF MAKING TOY FURNITURE AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 8, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 13, 1934.

P. E. GIER 1,950,919

METHOD OF MAKING TOY FURNITURE AND v Mich/gym Patented Mar. 13, 1934 METHOD OF MAKING TOY FURNITURE AND THE LIKE Philip-E. Gier, Conrad, Iowa Application February 8, 1932, Serial No. 591,569 1 Claim. (01. 144409) The object of this, invention is-to. provide an improvement in the art of makingand producing a considerable number of similar. objects from wood or other material with the particularpurp e of conserving material and reducing labor.

costs.

A further object is to provide an improved method for forminga plurality of objects which are alike or alike in some important. features, said method including the steps of producing a molded or formed stripof material having a cross sectional contour conforming to thecontour of the objects to be made andthen severing the molded strip transversely into-suitable blocks corresponding to one of the dimensions of the object and then further treating. such, block in suitable manner to produce the finished articles.

A further object ofthe invention is toprovide improved methodofproducing toy furniture, toy animals and the like, or other objects from material such. as wood, which improvement includesthe steps of ,iorming a strip of the material to a certain, cross sectional contour, then cutting the strip transversely into suitable lengths or blocks, and finally applying the necessary finishing touches to produce thev desired object.

My invention also contemplates in some instances the additional steps. of. operating on the cut-off blocks of molded stripby cutting each block to form the blank for twosimilar objects in reversed position,,and then, removing theexcess. portions of the materialtbefore thefinishing.

touches are applied. 7

With these and other objects in, view my indevice, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth,

pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a moldedstrip of material from which a plurality of objects may be formed, such for instance as chairs of a toy furniture set.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a block or section cut from the strip shown in Figure 1, and illustrating how such block or section may be severed on an irregular line to produce two of the objects, these objects occupying relatively reversed positions in the block.

Figure 3 is an end View of one of the blanks cut from the block shown in Figure 2 preparatory to the step of removing excess material to form the legs of the chair and produce the finished object.

Figure 4 is a perspective View of a toy chair formed according to my method from the molded strip, block and blank illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a differently molded strip for forming a different type of chair.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of a length or block out from the strip shown in Figure 5 and illustrating how this block may be severed on an irregular line for forming the blanks for two of the desired objects.

Figure '7 is a plan view of a chair constructed according to this method from the molded strip of Figure 5 and block of Figure 6, illustrating how certain excess material is removed from the blank to finish forming the seat and back of the chair.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the completed object so formed.

Figure 9 is a side elevation of a portion of a molded strip from which a block may be out as indicated by the broken line for forming the blank for a toy clock.

Figure 10 is a front elevation of a toy clock which may be produced from the strip shown in Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a side elevation of a toy animal, some of the different members of which may be formed according to my method.

Figure 12 is a perspective view of a molded strip from which blocks or sections may be out as indicated to produce: one of the members, namely the rear leg member of the toy shown in Figure 11.

Figure 13 is a perspective view illustrating steps in the method of forming a molded strip, severing them into sections and then cutting each section to produce two articles which are alike in some respects, but dissimilar in other respects.

Figure 14 is a side elevation of a molded strip which may be out on transverse lines to form blocks or sections, each of which may be cut on an irregular line to produce two similar ornamental objects such as book ends.

Figure 15 is a perspective view showing one of the book ends produced by following the method illustrated in Figure 14.

Figure 16 is a cross section of a molded strip which may be employed for making ornamental objects such as candlesticks.

Figure 17 is a side elevation of the strip shown in Figure 16 illustrating how the strip may be cut on various lines to produce the finished articles.

Figure 18 is a perspective view of a candlestick which may be produced by following the method illustrated in Figures 16 and 17.

The material ordinarily employed for making toy objects, ornamental articles and designs or the like in accordance with my invention is wood, although it is thought that under some circumstances other suitable material may be employed.

The first step is to take a strip of material of any desired length and of suitable transverse dimensions and to shape said strip to the desired cross sectional area or contour. This contour is determined by the contour of the object which it is desired to form from the strip. In this connection it may be said that the contour of the strip of material may in some instances conform to and be determined by the desired contour of the finished object in plan view, and in other instances will conform to and be determined by the shape of the object in side elevation.

This first step of shaping the strip to the desired contour may be referred to as molding the material. It may be accomplished by running astrip of material through a wood Working machine'known as a molder or sticker, which is a machine having suitable knives for cutting and shaping the four sides of the strip at one operation. This is the most economical method of forming or molding the strip so far as time and labor are concerned, although the operation may be carried out by using an ordinary shap'er or planer having cutters for operating on one side of the strip at a time.

It will be readily understood that in some instances all four sides of the strip will be alike when molded, and that in other instances two opposite sides will be alike and will be different from the other two sides, which may be alike or different, and that in some instances all of the lateral sides of the strip will be different from each other. This is in all instances determined by the contour of the object or series of objects to be produced and it will be further understood that in many instances all'of the finished objects produced from 'a given strip will be similar to each other. In other instances the objects produced from a given strip will be similar to each other throughout portions of their contours, but

. dissimilar in other portions so that the objects will be alike in some important features but not in .all. This similarity of distinctive details of contour is of the essence of my invention, which contemplates an economical method of forming a considerable number of such objects.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3 there are shown different steps .in the method of forming a toy chair which is shown in Figure 4.

In Figure 1 the molded strip of material is designated generally by the character A. This particular strip embodies a substantially circular body portion 10 having four longitudinally extending similar ribs 12 which are arcuate in section and are spaced about the body.

The molded strip A of Figure 1 is cut into suitable lengths or blocks as shown in Figure 2, and

each of said blocks contains the material for the blanks B and C for two of the chairs. The block is separated into the two blanks B and C by severing along the irregular line 14 which cut may be made by using a band saw or the like. It will be noted that the blanks B and C are relatively reversed in the block and that the wide portion which is to form the base of one chair is opposite to the narrow portion which is to form "the back of the other. When the 9 0 S lounging chair or overstuffed chair.

thereof which is to form the back of the chair;

this being accomplished by cutting on a substan-' tially Z-shaped line as indicated in Figure 2.

The next step of this particular embodiment of my improved process consists in removing excess material from each of the blanks B and C. This is accomplished by placing the blank in inverted position as indicated in Figure 3 and. boring out the major part of the material in the. base portion 16 to produce the legs of the chair. It will be understood that a small segment has already been removed by cutting on the line 14, thus leaving the straight boundary line 20 at one side of the base. The remaining portion between the ribs 12 is removed on the substantially circular line 22 by the use of a bit or boring tool to leave only the four spaced ribs 12 which thus become the legs of the chair. The material between the ribs 12 is removed to a plane suitably spaced from the upper margin of the base in order to leave the seat portion 24 of the chair which forms a connection between the four spaced legs 12 and also forms a support for the back member 18 of the finished chair as shown in Figure 4. The boring operation may be carried out by any suitable bit or boring tool, preferably of the rim guide type, such for instance as the Forstner bit. By using this particular type of bit the bottom of the out is left substantially smooth and plane and moreover, this type of bit is capable of cutting a part of a circle more readily than the more common center guide type of bit.

The chair is then ready to receive the finishing touches such as painting and decorating.

This furnishes a good example of how my im- :15 proved method may be employed for producing one type of object from a molded strip whose contour conforms substantially to the contour in plan view of the object to be produced. It will be observed that the seat 24 of the finished 1 chair carries out substantially the outline of the molded strip A except that its front edge is formed by the straight line 20 of the blank which results from cutting on one end portion of the line 14 of Figure 2 and as before stated the portion between the ribs 12 is cut away at the base to produce the legs of the chair and that no further cutting operations are required to produce these legs after the cut on the substantially circular line 22 by using the boring tool. The upwardly projecting back member 18 is left at that side of the seat 24 opposite to the straight line out 20 and this back member may be left in the condition resulting by cutting along the line 14 or its side margins may be finished on curved lines such as shown in Figure 4 by using any suitable cutting or abrading implement.

A slightly different embodiment of the method for producing a different type of chair is illustrated in Figures 5 to 8 inclusive. By carrying out the method as here illustrated thereis produced an article of toy furniture representing a In Figure 5 there is illustrated the formed or molded strip D which is first produced in any suitable manner by the use of suitable tools or machinery as previously suggested. This strip is symmetrical and includes a substantially rectangular body portion 26 having at its corners arcuate ribs 28. )n two of its opposed sides it'is formed with masonic a pair"ofulesser-arcuate=ribs';30=andvomeach of iother adaptation-of this method for producing D, is: cut into suitable lengths or r using aswingsaw ortba'ndsaw-ori other suitableo blanks orsections' of 'appropriate thickness as its other two faces is formed with a rhthew flat a tdyfigureto represent a pig 'or other animal.

t 'l hei strip The body portion- 54 of the figuretoy maybe sectionsaby produced from a' suitably molded-strip sawed into projection 32: having a planet-face;

' cutting: tool to produce blocks ot2suitable.length previously-indicated; In a similar way the front as show'ninFigure 6. ivlegst 56 of the animal-may be produced from Each ofthes'e blocks inIi1d6Slih-matel la1 forwanother molded strip and the rear legs '58 from two-chairs and:theblankS.fo'c these ztwo ohairs astill another s'trip which is shown in-Figure 12 are separated by cutting thei blbckoniamim'egulai" and-designated generally by the character H.

"" Ihewstrip H: is formed of any suitable length and to the desired sectional contourto represent 'Each?blanka thuswformedwhas. atzionetrside a ill. certain portion of the figurewhich is to be i narrowportion 3fi'which becomes thebacld M thew-produced, such'as' the leg 58; After being formed chair-and also has a: broad:lbaseaportioni'iiilirandor molded' the "strip H is cut into sections of suitan intermediateiportionofcintermediateriwidth ablethickness on transverse lines BO, after which wdesigna-ted: byot-he: numerale40:lwhichcfurnishes f I the c various parts of the. toy are assembled and material for the armsof:...theachairinlnithehblock painted or otherwise decorated. The strip Hor shownin Figure fihtheitwo zblanks Eralnd F arextt-he sections cut therefrom may be provided with reversed innpositiom:each-having itsH-nalrnowmpart"' suitable openings as indicated by the'dotted line 36 DI a pa t 381 U 62 toaccommodate pivots 84 or other fastenin other end withtheir.intermediateportinnsioppo-.

. one-half of the width ofltheblock.

" means=for the various members.

-Iigur'e -IS illustrates a-modification of the meth- -'-"od' for theproduction of a series of'twoarticles After the blanks E and F are separatedrfonzthes hich are alike in some respects and difierentin site eachotherxand each consumingisubstantially "li theyflartvbored Ouh m b v o other respects, such forinstance, as atoy dressing arcuatexline-AZ as.indicatediinrfigure 'tbyii'thewtable' and a toy--ra'dio receivingset,

A molded strip I of any suitable length is produced in" the manner previously indicated. This bIank-i-strip is irregularin contour and includes 'a base "whereby a \COIlCflllEd'jiIOIlll-ii 1S1". providedc:forvwthew nmmbefGG-having a pair f s ac ddownward roback 1 of there-hair. i1: 'Byz cuttingaz :omathe rline .142 the material is removed-toi the jections 68 and 70. Formed on and projecting 'desiredl d pt upwardlyfrom'the base 66- is a top portion '72,

' fromtheyintermediate;central' portioni mof eachmwhi h mthe main is of 1e s width than the base .blank to form x.the:;spaced: armsAO: ofrtheirchair and is irregular i o tli preferably being formed .1 and also :to"- leave other; upper-mlane .sur-face -i44zwith a? plurality of lateral projections 74.

'of "the :broad base '38 lasizithevseat of therch'air.

" The-strip I- is cut on transverse lines '76 to "-In this type: h fi:basermayrbeleft:solid 2 form a pluralityof blocksor sections, from'each .65 the b se presentiflg whealvy of which may be produced a plurality of objects type of chair. for which the various .projectionse. m making .fuirthep m 1 23x30 and 32 Ofvbhe moldedietrip furnisht According to the embodiment here shown each :sirable elements of ornamentatiomfor t er blbck or sebtion of-the strip I is cut or sawed plated O It W -b t dthat imthis p 'through its' top portion 72 on a line parallelwith ticular embodiment: of thewprocess the ahd" spaced a shortdistancefrom one of its ends 0 1 Of t p D COnfOImSTtO =the'fmnbands --and is also cut on a= 1ongitudinal line perpendicurear elevational contour of the completed object. 55131470: n intersecting last named -..In Figures Band 10 there is illustrated a more: th wayither major part of t top I portion is Simple embodiment of the process for Producing removed from the base 66 and forms a blank 78 a representation of a clock or other objects which h h may be uitably fini h d and decorated to are plane on two opposite faces.

As indicated in Figure 9 there is first formed a molded strip G of the desired sectional contour and then the strip is cut transversely on broken lines such as 46 to produce the blanks for objects such as shown in Figure 10. Each blank when cut on the transverse line or lines 46 is ready for painting and decorating to simulate the desired object such as a clock and in this instance the simulation of the object is carried out entirely by choosing and forming the desired contour and applying surface decorations.

The molded strip G may of course be of any desired contour to conform to any contour, whether in plan or elevation, of the object to be produced. In the present instance it is substantially rectangular and is molded to produce any selected plane or curved surfaces with suitable projections or indentations.

Figures 9 and 10 are intended merely to represent an example of a simple method of producing a number of like objects such as a toy clock in which the finished article may have a relatively wide base 48, a narrow intermediate portion 50 and a slightly wider top portion 52.

In Figures 11 and 12 there is illustrated anremaining part of the top portion of the block is left integral with and projecting upwardly from one end margin of the block to form the back member 80 of a toy dressing table or the like and tion which is unnecessary and which is cut away from the block in forming the dressing table.

It has been previously indicated that my invention is not necessarily limited to the method it may also be employed for other articles more or less ornamental in character. In Figures 14 and 15 I have illustrated how this method may be employed for producing articles such as book ends.

produce a representation of a toy radio set. The

the base 66 with its projections 63 and 70 com- 1 of producing articles of toy furniture but that Cir ploying for one object, such as a radio set, a por- I 1 In Figure 14 is shown a molded strip K which may be of any desired contour in cross section, depending upon the desired article.

The strip K is cut into sections of suitable length on transverse lines 82 and then each section is divided into two parts by cutting on an ogee curve or other desired line as indicated by the broken line 84. The last named cut serves jects may, of course, be suitably decorated as desired.

Figures 16, 17 and 18 illustrate the use of this method in producing other like objects of ornamental character, such as candle sticks, one of.

the finished articles being illustrated in Figure 18.

A molded strip L is first formed, which in cross section is of I-beam formation, having a web 88 and spaced flanges 90 and 92. The faces of the web portion 88 may be formed on curved lines to produce the desired curved formations in the finished object.

' formed from a portion of the Web. It-may also have a projection 102 at one side constituting a i The strip L is cut transversely on irregular lines 94 as indicated in Figure 17, such lines extending through the Web portion 88 and the base portions 90 and 92.

Each block or section produced by cutting on the line 94 is then out on irregular lines as indicated at 96 to separate the block into two parts or blanks from each of which a candle stick or the like may be formed, the two objects being in reversed position in the block as indicated in Figurel'l.

When the blocks or sections have been cut as just described, the two objects so produced may receive further treatment for finishing the articles. Each candle stick so formed will have a rectangular base 98 formed from a portion of one of the base flanges 90 and 92 and a standard 100 'handle'landsaid handle portion may be formed from the part which lies opposite the end of the standard portion 100 in cutting the objects from the block. The standard portion 100 may be bored axially at 104to form a candle receiving socket and the handle portion 102 may be bored transversely at 106 to form a finger grip.

The candle sticks or other articles thus produced may of course be finished and decorated in any desired manner.

It is obvious that a large number of articles such as objects of toy furniture or other toys or similar objects more or less, ornamental in character, maybe produced by following out the various embodiments of my invention, and it will be understood that the samples here illustrated and described are presented as illustrative of various embodiments of the invention.

By employing this invention in its various embodiments, I am enabled to produce large numbers of like objects, or objects similar in some respects and dissimilar in others, with a minimum of labor. and. material, thus simplifying the processand reducing'the cost of producing such objects.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the steps and opera- .tions of my method without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim, any modifications or use of mechanical equivalents, which a may be reasonably included Within their scope.

I claim as my invention:- A method of forming a series of articles of toy furniture such as chairs, including the steps of I forming an elongated strip of material to suitable contour in cross-section to conform to one external contour of the object to be produced, then severing the strip on transverse right lines to produce a series of blocks, severing each block on a selected irregular line to form blanks for two objects, one reversed relative to the other, and boring out a portion of each blank to remove excess material, and to provide the desired internal contour for a portion of the finished object.

PHILIP E. GIER. 

